The US Federal government is suffering from another bout of ‘shutdown fever.’ It is obviously the result of prolonged dysfunction. Despite the growing number of shutdown threats, increasing likelihood of a shutdown, and rising number of disruptions to government services, even with full Republican control of the government, the fact shutdown threats were a persistent part of the Obama Administration, as well as to a lesser extent the George W. Bush Administration, reminds the American People that Donald Trump is not the cause of this illness. Trump, along with every other elected official in the US Congress, may share in the blame for the current crisis, but simply blaming him, or Republicans, will not fix the problem nor will it help identify a cure.
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Trump’s ‘Wolff in Sheep’s Clothing,’ Gaming the President’s Overly Personalized Management Style1/17/2018 Author Michael Wolff, author of “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White,” was essentially able to gain access to the inner-workings of the fledgling Trump Presidency by appealing to the President’s ego and the drive of those around him to feed his ego. Not only did Michael Wolff embarrass members of the Trump Administration with a damning investigation, his prolonged and unquestioned loitering in the White House exposed a lack of scrutiny and security within the Trump Administration. Where revelations of this nature would be troubling for any administration, whether current or former, they undermine trust and confidence in the young Presidency.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day for 2018 was hijacked by the immigration debate after President Donald Trump used disparaging language to warn against accepting immigrants from undesirable countries on the proceeding Thursday. Because Mr. Trump used Haiti, which is primarily populated by the descendants of black Africans, as an example of a undesirable country and Norway as an example of a preferred country, his remarks were quickly framed as racist. As Dr. King’s work primarily focused on racial and economic inequality, the immigration focus may seem like somewhat of a distraction from the original intent of the holiday, yet the incident is relevant for a different reason.
Work Requirements For Medicaid? What About Mental Health Requirements For Welfare Benefits?1/12/2018 The Trump Administration has decided to offer waivers, so States can impose “work or community engagement requirements” on Medicaid recipients. Currently, ten States have pending proposals that would allow them to deny impoverished individuals coverage under the state-run, Federally sponsored healthcare program for low-income Americans, unless they find some form of employment, engage in job seeking activities, volunteer, and/or provide care to others. Depending on what specific requirements individual States adopt and how they verify the activities of recipients, proposed changes could help motivate select groups of individuals or create another roadblock to healthcare for low-income Americans.
Tensions between North Korea and the US have flared up under the Trump Administration. Pyongyang’s relations with the International Community may, however, be thawing. The Kim regime, for example, has decided to send athletes to the 2018 Winter Olympics. At the same time, US President Donald Trump has said he is open to talks with North Korea. These developments are not, of course, likely to materialize into any meaningful discussions, unless a realistic, achievable, and productive objective is identified. In other words, the Trump Administration needs to bring a deal to the negotiating table that can address the issues surrounding the nuclear North Korean threat for all of the parties involved. Given the proper diplomatic framework, it can do just that.
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April 2020
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